The tension in the Laurent estate was suffocating. A thick silence hung in the air, suffused with the weight of expectation, accusation, and fear. Anastasia felt the pressing gazes of her mother, Genevieve, Charles Dupont, and even Hugo Laurent, their sharp stares demanding an answer.
"Who did you offend, Anastasia?" Genevieve's voice was crisp, cutting through the silence like a whip. "Who have you angered enough to make Charles lose millions overnight?"
Anastasia swallowed hard, her throat dry. Her heart pounded against her ribs, threatening to escape. She parted her lips to speak, but before she could form the words—
"Dante Alexander Montgomery."
The name rang through the room like a gunshot.
A gasp. A heartbeat. Then—
SMACK!
The sharp sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the grand hall as Caroline staggered back, her cheek blooming red from the force of the slap.
